Wealth Management & Financial Planning

Since the Probate Code Study Commission was eliminated as part of a 2014 law that reduced the number of interim study committees,
certain legislators and attorneys have mounted an effort to get the commission reinstated.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way to do it yourself with Internet services such as LegalZoom, Nolo and Rocket
Lawyer. But attorneys say relying on online form providers for long-term financial and estate planning may not be the wisest
investment.

After nearly 19 years and five appearances before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, a dispute over retirement benefits has
ended where it began and elicited an admission of mistaken interpretation from the court.

Assets could be shielded from creditors and passed down to numerous generations under a legacy trust proposal being considered
by the Indiana General Assembly. The proposed estate-planning device would be exempt from the rule against perpetuities.

In agreeing to hear an appeal on the question of whether retirement funds remain retirement funds after they are inherited,
the Supreme Court of the United States seems to be acknowledging that what is today a rare question could arise more often
as the population ages and more parents leave money to their children.

After many years of complete uncertainty with the federal estate tax, there is now a law in place that provides some level
of predictability. Further, in 2013, Indiana repealed its inheritance tax. Indiana’s inheritance tax was known as one
of the most onerous of all the states and resulted in many snowbirds making Florida their permanent home.

A lawsuit alleges that Muncie-based First Merchants Bank manipulated the timing of customers’ transactions to cause
their checking accounts to bounce more frequently, generating millions of dollars in overdraft fees.

A former Reagan administration official will join the group of academic, government and business leaders making presentations
next month at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law’s symposium on the Law and Financial Crisis.